Dennim
Dennim is Mind's imaginary friend and complete opposite. He's a boy around the age of 10, but has a rough, grown man's voice. While Mind has a British accent, he is American. Dennim is a supernatural, nonexistent being, who's opinions are often the complete opposite of Mind's. While he looks like a colourful character, there isn't much he truly cares for and he's mainly been called into existence to comfort Mind, though does a clumsy job at doing so. He is a cheery, playful, but also mean-spirited character, who tends to speak his mind and can appear rather hateful and selfish at times. Mind often becomes insulted or impatient by his behaviour, but at the same time tolerates his weird games enough to keep inviting him back into her room, as he is her childhood friend and the only company she has. Dennim's appearance and behaviour give off an untrustworthy vibe, but he cares about his friend's happiness and pleasing her is his main purpose. While the animated short doesn't really portray this, they are best friends and play with each other every day. (2010).]] (2016).]] Dennim can be described as a male version of Mind with all personality traits she lacks. As Mind finds it difficult to "hate", he does it for her and feels this emotion strongly for both her parents. He, on his turn, isn't able to feel sadness or anxiety, because Mind suffers from these emotions all the time, though not necessarily when in his presence. She is seldom sad when hanging out with him. Mind's dislike and disgust for herself created one of the strongest, but subtle personality traits in Dennim, namely his intense love for her. In the animated short/canon story he doesn't treat her according to this fact, but there are realities where he confesses or strives to have a love relationship with her. If he doesn't do this, it has to do with him knowing beforehand Mind won't accept him for whatever reason that might be. Dennim has black messy hair, red eyes, thick eyelashes, a white skin, sharp teeth, and wears a black tank top, black pants, and black shoes. He and Mind share the same face and body structure, as they are one and the same. In other realities Out of all characters, Dennim is the most flexible in these alternate realities. He can be a selfish villain or a genuine caretaker. Despite his ability to make this long jump from being carefree to vengeful, his love for Mind is one of his strongest consistencies, though he won't always act according to his feelings. For example, as a villain he'll keep her close and protected, but would still follow his own rogue will and ignore her objections to it. Generally speaking Dennim is forced to obey her, which is why he can't lie whenever Mind asks him a direct question, but when freed from her imagination, he's no longer bound to these rules. This is when it becomes tempting for him to walk the wrong path. ]] Dennim has claimed in one of the comics that he knows about these alternate universes, but this reveal doesn't get any attention from Mind. This means that the comic series plays off in the canon reality, as Dennim from the real ending is the only version of him who knows about about the concept of different realities. The "other Dennims" don't, which explains how he can act differently in all these realities. If Dennim would possess the knowledge on how to act in his given universe, he'd always take the route of peace and strive for a simple family life with Mind -opposed to attacking humanity or murdering her parents- since these tactics will automatically cause him to lose her respect. Canon Dennim knows a happy ending with Mind exists, but ironically doesn't know what universe he's in himself. In the animation he subtly tested out what universe he's in by asking Mind if she wanted him in the afterlife, whereafter she rejected him, which revealed there's no future for them. All other Dennims did not ask Mind this question or had this specific talk with her while presenting her the key. Mind and Dennim's future is dependant on the rules of the universe they're in and whether Mind accepts the key or not. If she doesn't and she stays alive, more possibilities open up, but if she does and the universe they're in considers imaginary things not to exist in any way, there'll be no afterlife for Mind to go to and for Dennim to meet her in. He can't skip the step of offering the key to stop her from possibly dying, as he's connected to Mind's mind and forced to present it because of her own urge to want to commit suicide at that moment. He offers the key in all realities, and the story only branches out after that point on. 'As an Adult' Dennim doesn't age in the canon story because of Mind's early suicide, but in most other realities he grows up together with her. While it's easy to assume he's a static being; unable to learn and develop because of his fixed set of personality traits, adult Dennim differs from his past self. Young Dennim is obviously a child in the sense he likes playing with toys and keeps his interest for Mind subtle enough to make it seem like there is none. As a boy, he often bullies her and inhabits alot of traits typical for someone his age to have, despite showing off more intelligence than the common child. Adult Dennim is still cheeky and cheerful, but has naturally lost the interest to play children's games or to cause Mind pointless stress. He exchanges more flirtatious stares and comments with his love interest, and his increased maturity comes with more chances for her to have a serious conversation with him. While he can still be rough and insulting, he and Mind will have grown accustomed to each other and she knows how to read into his jokes. In the past, she never responded with a comeback and did not yet understand his sense of humor. In case Dennim is visible to outsiders and presents himself as a regular human being, he receives little trust from people. While he's not thought to be a supernatural being, since the series plays in modern times, he's often dubbed a goth or a Satanist by spectators. Because of this, only goths and similar people are accepting of him at first glance. It doesn't help that the pre-existing aversion people have for Dennim often increases after they become acquainted with him. He immediately turns anti-social when strangers demand his attention, and his disinterest for them spawns mean and curt responses. His familiar brand of sociality shows itself when he's interacting with Mind and he only addresses others when it's for a purpose. Dennim can get people to accept his looks if he presents himself as a rich businessman and/or uses a recurring excuse for his colour palette; namely the claim he has a pigment condition/is an albino. 'As a Beast' As a creation of Mind's mind, her fading sanity can turn Dennim into a beast with every passing year she stays alive. Having that said, it requires Mind to age and stay her father's prisoner in order for this to happen. Though, it's also possible that her insanity will leave Dennim's appearance intact and instead increases his urge to torture people. He'll turn destructive when given the chance and often goes out of his way to to create this chance for himself. Mind never agrees with this behaviour, meaning he's not taking this revenge on her demand. As a beast, Dennim is not unable to stay his cheerful self, but when he becomes extremely hatefilled, some universes involuntarily turn him into a gigantic demon called "a demonic lord". In this form he is devoid of a conscience or social skills. Some realities give a different reason for his transformation; one being him overtaken by grief over the death of Mind. As he's unable to shed tears and lacks the capability to feel sadness, any moments that would have him experience it will translate into intense anger. This forces him to transform. His "demonic lord" appearance is always connected to his own emotional state, unlike his regular monster appearance, which is connected to Mind's mental health. As he himself controls his demonic lord form, he's able to shed it and transform back, while he's stuck being Mind's monster for as long she does not experience mental healing. Mind accepts his monster form, as this is usually what she's raised to be familiar with it, but rarely recognizes Dennim in this demonic lord form and greatly fears it. No matter the form or his state of mind, Dennim will always recognize her face and not make her a casualty. Relationships Mind Dennim has a strong love for Mind, but likes to subject her to inappropriate jokes and his overall behaviour. These conflicting traits are caused by the leftover personality traits he's received as Mind's opposite, and there's not much he can do about it, except occasionally grace her with silence. Even so, she's never been angry at him for longer than a few minutes and almost seems to understand that this is who he is. While sometimes subjecting her to the harsh reality she lives in, he's always willing to help her the best he can with whatever she wishes for. "His best" is decided by the universe they exist in and what rules apply to imaginary beings and magic. ----- Mind's mother In the main story he and Mind's mother have never met, but Dennim makes it clear he hates her as much he does Mind's father. He believes she's equally guilty of Mind's abuse by not believing her, and doing little to find out the truth, as she still allows for her husband to be alone with their daughter in the house. He cares little for Mind's docile opinion about her mother and goes off to kill her in many alternate realities. When these two meet, Dennim tends to keep his disdain for her to himself in order to fulfill Mind's desired outcome. His efforts are best portrayed in the reality where he has to purposely swoon her mother, but generally speaking, his hatred for both parents will tempt him to kill them if Mind does not explicitly ask him not to do this. ----- Mind's father In the main story he and Mind's father have never met, but he is often the subject of Dennim's jokes. Despite joyfully using the man for his punch lines, he bears an unbearable hatred for him; but the same way he loves Mind and still teases her, he has a jokey way of informing he wants her father (or both parents) dead, making it sound there's not much weight to his words. He and Mind's father share the similarity that they have an obsession with Mind and assume she belongs to them, making them both prone to extreme jealousy. Dennim has a less hurtful way of dealing with this because of his awkward selection of personality traits, but their possessive nature makes it impossible for the two of them to stay civil towards each other in case they do meet. While Dennim wants Mind's father dead, he isn't able to do anything about him until some kind of ritual is made to grand him the ability to meddle with reality. In the realities they meet, Dennim takes extreme pleasure out of teasing him, but this is all he does if his goal is to keep Mind's respect. In many other endings Dennim kills him. Trivia *The art style for Mind and Dennim was designed with The Powerpuff Girls in mind. * One of the artist's characters was used as a base for Dennim's design. * "Mind" was originally spelled "Minned"; **When reversing the letters, that makes "Dennim"; ** Dennim's name was supposed to be "Mind" in reverse, but the name "Dnim" didn't look right and no changes were made. * The adult version of Mind and Dennim starred in the music video "Little Animal" by Kinkobra. * Dennim has never pronounced Mind's name, and can't, as that would make Mind realise they're the same person and cure her from her insanity/cause him to disappear. When older, he tends to call her "babe" and "baby"; **Interestingly enough, Dennim can say the word "mint" when speaking of peppermint or other things. * Dennim has a strong liking for lollipops. * As an imaginary being, Dennim doesn't have blood or internal organs, unless his body is forced to replicate it for a situation that needs it; ** Having that said, Dennim does not need to eat or go to the bathroom. ** While he officially doesn't have a heart, one is heard beating in his chest when he's close to Mind. It's Mind's own heart, and a response to them being the same person. The closer they are, the faster it goes. * While they feel and act like separate bodies, he and Mind share each other's in certain ways. For example; Mind will experience an extremely high level of pleasure if Dennim experiences it at the same time, and Dennim will suffer from double effect if he and Mind consumed alcohol at the same time. He'd become incredibly drunk, while she'd stay sober and unaffected; ** Because their interests and personality differ, the idea is that it's hard to reach this enhanced level of happiness and become one. *If Dennim were made real and one would check his DNA, it would be Mind's; **This technically means Dennim is female, among other things. * Dennim is demisexual; more specifically, only recognizes Mind as a sexual being. He shows no interest in other people or a certain gender. * Dennim has no body odour. * Dennim's colour pallet is completely monochrome; only his eyes, "blood" and the inside of his mouth/tongue are red. * A "running gag" is that Mind often offers him tea in different realities, which he always accepts, even though he despises the stuff and is a coffee drinker. It is symbolic for Dennim's eagerness to please her. *While there are alternate endings showing Dennim lying or tricking Mind in some way, he is unable to lie or disobey if she ''specifically asks him to do something; ** This is also why Dennim can still go out to kill her parents, as her opinion that she doesn't like the idea or the act isn't good enough. She has to tell Dennim not to do it. **Even when no longer imaginary, he keeps the urge to make her happy. **In many ways he functions as a genie. See Also * Dennim (monster) * Dennim (demonic lord) * DenNIM (about page) * DenNIM (animated feature) * DenNIM (comic series) * List of Dennim's abilities * Dennim's Guide to Life Category:Characters Category:Main characters Category:Male characters Category:Comic characters Category:Supernatural characters